Thank you all for attending the 2018 MRPC Annual meeting. If you took any photos during the meeting, please share them with the MRPC National Office by uploading them to our MRPC dropbox folder. Just click on the link below then drag and drop any photo files you’d like to share.

MRPC Meeting Photos Link

Thank you!

Arkansas Tourism is offering shuttle service for attendees of the 2018 Annual Meeting in West Memphis, Ark., on October 22-26. Drivers will transport attendees from the Memphis International Airport to the Comfort Suites in West Memphis on Monday, Oct. 22, and Tuesday, Oct. 23, and provide shuttle service back to the airport on Friday, Oct. 26.

Please fill out the form by Friday, Oct. 19, to request shuttle service.

Registration is now open for the 2018 MRPC Annual Meeting, which will take place from October 23-25 in West Memphis, Arkansas. Register online now to receive the special early-bird rate—early-bird registration ends October 5.

Click here to print the registration form.

Hotel reservations

A special guestroom rate of $89/night is available now for the conference hotel, Comfort Suites in West Memphis. To reserve your room, call the hotel at 870-733-9900. Make sure to mention the Mississippi River Parkway Commission group rate.

Agenda

To see the agenda for the meeting, click here.

Make plans to attend the 2018 MRPC Annual Meeting, which takes place October 23-25 in West Memphis, Arkansas. Registration opens in July and a special hotel rate is available now. Reservations for the Comfort Suites, 850 Stephen Boulevard in West Memphis, can be made by calling 870-733-9900. A special guestroom rate of $89 is available for rooms with one king or two queen beds. Make sure to mention the Mississippi River Parkway Commission group rate.

Our Flavors of the Great River Road promotion launches June 4, and we’d love your help to spread the word!

If your state’s Interpretive Centers are interested in receiving free promotional cards featuring the contest, please send them this link: http://mrpcmembers.com/order-your-flavors-of-the-great-river-road-cards/. This is at no cost to your state’s Interpretive Centers.

A full promotional overview including logos, sample social media posts, itineraries and more is also available on the Forms & Resources page. We will continue to update the Forms & Resources page with more promotional materials as they are available.

If your state’s Interpretive Centers are interested in further ways to promote the campaign, please consider the following:

• Front desk distribution of the contest promotional cards
• Incorporating your state’s featured ingredients/dishes into their educational programming
• Share the promotion through their social media channels

Registration is now open for 2018 MRPC Semi-Annual Meeting in Quincy, IL, from April 11-13. Early bird registration ends March 30th—register online today at mrpcmembers.com/meeting.

Click here to print the registration form.

Hotel reservations
A special room rate is available now at the conference hotel, the Quality Inn & Suites of Quincy. To reserve a room, call 217-222-2666. Be sure to mention the MRPC room block.

Agenda
Click here to see the full meeting agenda.

Earlier this month, the New York Times published a fantastic piece about traveling the Great River Road.

Writer Peter Kujawinski’s article, “Along the Mississippi,” tells the story of his family’s road trip along the Great River Road from Illinois to Mississippi. He shares stories about visiting several interpretive centers along the route and even highlights the MRPC’s 10-state Great River Road map as a great resource.

To read the full story, click here.

The 2018 MRPC Semi-Annual Meeting will take place on April 11-13, 2018 at the Quality Inn & Suites at Quincy, Illinois.

It’s time to put the 2017 Great River Road Month toolkit to work! It’s available on the Forms & Resources page. It includes a press release, story ideas, ways you can help promote the September giveaway, social media tips and a proclamation you can use to encourage local officials to declare September Drive the Great River Road Month in your state. Terri McCullough of Arkansas, National MRPC Pilot Pro Tem, did just that in Chicot County and it made the front page of the local paper. Thanks, Terri!

MRPC and MRC are often promoting travel along and around the Mississippi river. Want to learn the main distinction between the two? Click here to download the MRPC-MRC fact sheet to learn more. You can also find it on the Resource page.

New version of Travel Map now available. Four new interpretive centers added! Click on the images below to view.